Ridge vents for ventilating attic spaces are well known. One type of ridge vent is formed from elongated injection molded ridge vent sections having a flexible central panel with ventilation grids and usually wind baffles formed along the edges of the panel. The ridge vent sections are installed end-to-end along and covering a ridge slot cut in the ridge of a roof and are attached with nails driven through nail bosses of the ridge vent sections into a roof deck below. Warm attic air passes by convection through the ridge slot, beneath the central panel, and exits to the environment through the ventilation grids. Traditionally, ridge vents are covered with ridge cap shingles after they are installed for aesthetic blending with the surrounding shingles of a roof.
Solar panels on roofs also are becoming more popular as their cost decreases and their efficiency increases. Typically, solar panels on homes are electrically connected to the public power grid and supplement the grid with electrical power that they generate. Electric power companies pay consumers for this supplemental power so that electric bills can be reduced or eliminated. Traditional home solar power systems work well under normal circumstances. However, in an emergency when the public power grid is off for extended periods, the electrical power generated by a homeowner's solar panels is not available for use by the homeowner. This was experienced, for example, during hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, when homeowners with solar power systems nevertheless had no accessible electricity to charge cell phones, operate televisions, and otherwise provide emergency power.
Traditional ridge vents have long performed the single function of ventilating an attic space below a roof. However, the exposed surface area of a ridge vent can be significant and historically has not been exploited. A need exists for a ridge vent designed to exploit its exposed surface area in such a way that the ridge vent can perform additional functions such as, for instance, generation of electrical power. A further need exists for a rooftop solar power system that provides emergency electrical power when the public grid is offline for extended periods or during emergencies. It is to the provision a ridge vent and system that the present invention is primarily directed.